Private entity cancels $142M deal to buy Honolulu public housing

A $142 million deal to sell Honolulu’s 12 leasehold public apartment complexes to a private group has been terminated by the prospective buyers, who told city officials they would not be able to come up with a $35 million payment by a March 31 deadline.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that William Rice, an officials with the managing partner of Honolulu Affordable Housing Partners LLC, notified the city in a letter that there was "no reasonable possibility" the group could secure commitments from investors for the nonrefundable payment by the deadline.

The newspaper reports the cancellation will create a $20 million shortfall in the city's $2 billion budget, and that city Budget Director Nelson Koya­nagi said the city would look at delaying payments to rainy day accounts before cutting services to fix the shortfall.